Rational Focal Point

Rational Focal Point
It is designed to be a collaborative environment where all project related information is stored—including project ideas and developing business
cases. Changes to project information can trigger email notifications to the project manager and any subscribers. This way data is always up-to-date and decisions can be made in real-time. Focal Point also integrates with Microsoft Excel and Project.
This allows project managers that use those tools to transfer project information into Focal Point with the push of a button.
Focal Point has a unique system that allows users to define decision criteria that act as the basis for the prioritization.
You can use quantitative criteria based on information from the project and qualitative criteria by using the pair wise comparison feature. Once the
prioritization is complete, a visualization will aid you in making the best decision.
Focal Point is also highly configurable. The solution doesn’t tell you how to manage projects, it conforms to your organization’s unique processes and workflows. It also supports projects throughout the lifecycle--from the idea phase, through business case formation,
prioritization, execution, and closure.
Finally, Focal Point is role-based, meaning homepages, dashboards  and menus can be customized for specific roles.
Project managers for instance can be made to only see information about their projects.
Also, by determining what a vendor role can see and edit, you can allow external users access without worrying about data security
IBM® Rational® Focal Point provides product and portfolio management driven by market needs and your business objectives. This comprehensive solution helps you prioritize and select the right investments, balance change with business demands and align resources to deliver the right products at the right time. Now your executives and teams can make decisions that deliver greater value to your customers and your business

Rational Focal Point:

• Improves decision making by enabling you to automatically incorporate stakeholder feedback, share centralized information and use objective information to support decisions.
• Uses visualization, prioritization, road maps and plans to help you assess the effects of decisions. Now you can create plans that are achievable, value-based, and balanced against internal constraints and resources.
• Uses predefined configurations based on best practices to define a portfolio of investments driven by customer and business value, marketplace analysis and stakeholder collaboration.
• Integrates enterprise architecture and project execution into portfolio management. This helps ensure enterprise and project decisions are aligned with your company’s financial and market needs.

Try Rational Focal Point in an online sandbox

Videos on RFP:

1. Rational Focal Point for Smarter Cities - view the Demo
2. Delivery management: Connecting strategy and delivery using both Rational Focal Point and Rational Team Concert
3. Getting started with IBM Rational Focal Point - Part 1 of 3
4. Getting started with IBM Rational Focal Point - Part 2 of 3
5. Getting started with IBM Rational Focal Point - Part 3 of 3
6. The Value of Managing Your Application Portfolio with Rational Focal Point
7. Value-Driven Application Prioritization with IBM Rational Focal Point
8. Investment Analysis in IBM Rational Focal Point (RFP)
9. Risk Awareness, Financial Models, and Businesses Cases in IBM Rational Focal Point
10. Application Rationalization and Consolidation with IBM Rational Focal Point
11. Smarter Application Portfolio Management with Rational Focal Point
12. Simplify IT with Rational Focal Point for Application Portfolio Management
13. CLM Focal Point
14. Focal Point Presentation and Demonstration
15. Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for CLM applications, Part 1
16. Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for CLM applications, Part 2
17. Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for CLM applications, Part 3
18. Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for CLM applications, Part 4
19. Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for CLM applications, Part 5
20. Rational Focal Point Tutorials, Tours, Installation from IBM
21. Align your product and portfolio management investments with business objectives
22. Rational Portfolio Management Community of Practice (CoP)
23. Project Portfolio Management using Rational Focal Point
24. Investment Analysis in Rational Focal Point (Pointer to IBM site)
25. Managing Project portfolio management using IBM Rational Focal Point

Case Study Pointers:

1. Swedbank achieves consistency and transparency in portfolio management using IBM Rational Focal Point
2. A bank improves efficiency by streamlining applications portfolio
3. Laminar Medica cuts product development time and costs by 25 percent
4. A global conglomerate cuts IT maintenance costs by 35 percent
5. Chubb Insurance gains greater insight and control of risk management across Europe

Hands on Exercises / Articles:
Using Investment Analysis in Rational Focal Point:
Part 1. Build a simple financial model for a software project
Part 1. Build a simple financial model for a software project (pdf version)
Part 2. Build an advanced financial model and compare results for two projects
Team-based prioritization of activities with Rational Focal Point
Team-based prioritization of activities with Rational Focal Point (pdf version)
Get started with Investment Analysis in IBM Rational Focal Point
Calculate your return on investment for software and systems
Data import, export, and update in Rational Focal Point
Data import, export, and update in Rational Focal Point (pdf version)
Configure Rational Focal Point to give users LDAP directory access
Integrate Rational Focal Point with requirements, project, and test management tools
Integrate Rational Focal Point with requirements, project, and test management tools (pdf version)
Step-by-step guide to creating Rational Focal Point reports
Implement a bid management system using Rational Focal Point
Create templates so you can reuse Investment Analysis settings

Integrating Rational Focal Point with Rational solution for Collaborative Lifecycle Management applications

Part 1: Set up the workspace in Rational Focal Point
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/demos/summary/r-focalpointclm1.html

Part 2: Configure the integration between Rational Focal Point and Rational solution for CLM
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/demos/summary/r-focalpointclm2.html

Part 3: Add Rational Focal Point as an outbound friend in Rational solution for CLM
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/demos/summary/r-focalpointclm3.html
Part 4: Publish business needs as requirements to the requirement management application and track the progess
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/demos/summary/r-focalpointclm4.html

Part 5: Check the progress of published business needs and generate reports
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/lp/demos/summary/r-focalpointclm5.html